


Electrical Witchcraft

by SeasickSputnik



Category: Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe-Modified Technological Timeline, Electricity, Electromagnetic Induction, Gen, Invention Is Forbidden, War of Currents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 23:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3228251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeasickSputnik/pseuds/SeasickSputnik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this reality, the pace of innovation and invention lags far behind our own. A few brave souls are willing to disregard the looming specter of reeducation by the Committee of Public Safety in order spark revolution through the research of electricity. Their curiosity comes at a dreadful cost...</p><p>Accurate depictions of Electromagnetic Induction and other physics principles as seen through the lens of the written word.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Electrical Witchcraft

_The Promise of a Brighter Future_

The trial commenced. This plague, this heretical idea could not be allowed to spread throughout the country, for it threatened to revolutionize transportation, lighting, and manufacturing. That could not be allowed; innovation must be stifled because in the resulting chaos the titans of the business world might fall. And that would be simply unacceptable. The Committee of Public Safety would protect the world, and more importantly, the rights of the business owners who sponsored them. This newfangled electromagnetic induction would never get off the ground. Well, it would never be allowed in the poor section of the city; one does not dictate to the heads of the state and the leaders of the Committee.

Tom Gray still remembered the day they came for his eccentric neighbor, Mr. Faraday. It was ingrained in his memory; the crisp professional uniform of the officer, his grim expression, and his stern gaze. The Committee always arrested the trouble makers in the dead of night; the still darkness would have made Mr. Faraday’s deviancy even more apparent. Tom, of course, was aware of it; it was hard to keep the paraphernalia associated with electrical experiments hidden, and once a boy’s curiosity is awakened, it was impossible to stop him from discovering the truth. When the truth became apparent, nothing could save him from the agents of fear and greed.

Mr. Faraday was conducting experiments with electricity, attempting to use the force held in batteries to produce mechanical energy. Everyone had heard whispers of ‘electricity’.

  
Mere weeks before, Mr. Faraday had taken Tom under his wing, teaching him obscure secrets like the relationships between power, resistance, and charge. All this knowledge was classified as anathema by the authoritarian government and the agency which enacts their twisted version of justice. Their end goal was apparent; they sought to preserve the status quo in industry and everyday life. No expense was spared to discredit those who sought to share their innovative ideas with the public. Propaganda poisoned the minds of the public, and for those who braved the toxic environment and still experimented, death often awaited. Dabbling in the electrical arts was one of the crimes which along with forgery, theft, and disrespect to government officials, could result in the sentence of burning or, more often, the criminals simply disappeared. More specifically, these intrepid experimenters where burned at the stake for witches because their work and their passion threatened the corrupt government and shadowy oligarchy who made their fortunes by keeping the poor imprisoned with little light and no hope for change or advancement. However, Mr. Faraday, while he feared the regulatory agents, did not let the fear paralyze him or his brilliant mind.

Two weeks past, when the torrid sun was beating down upon the town, and it was too hot to play outside, Tom explored his surrounding neighborhood. In the light of day the sooty brick houses seemed sorry and decrepit. However, in this brick warren lived a man whose genius knew no bounds. When Mr. Faraday spotted Tom lurking around his makeshift workshop, he initially started in fright. But once he saw that Tom was a mere boy, his quakes of fear died down. He called, “Want to come in? Want to see something the Committee wants to lockup forever?” Tom although not wholly lacking in self-preservation, nevertheless immediately darted on the room. A strange sight greeted his eyes.  
Contraband littered the table. He had never seen such strange contraptions all wired together, their purpose unclear. A battery lay on one side of the table with two wires running from it; these wires connected to one side of an iron ring in the center and coiled around half of the ring. On the other side of the metal circle even more coils wrapped around the iron and the wires ran to an obscure measuring device which Tom later found to be a galvanometer. The wires didn’t touch in the center of the ring, but when a switch was flipped, the galvanometer sprang to life, measuring the voltage.

“What is it?” Tom questioned with a quavering voice. “I’ve seen things like this when I snuck into the wealthy sector of town to scrounge for scraps, but the wires only run a short distance between the houses of the rich. No one ever smuggled the wires out into the run-down neighborhood where we live”  
“It’s my experiment for electromagnetic induction. The current flowing in the wires induces a magnetic field in iron ring (creating an electromagnet) and on the other side of the ring the magnetic field induces or creates a current in the wire on the other side which then is detected by the galvanometer. Basically, a moving electric current can create a magnetic field and a changing magnetic field can create an electric current. This idea will revolutionize electric generators and it will pave the way for future advances! Everyone will have power, and it will light the word and revolutionize transportation and manufacturing.”

Throughout the afternoon, Mr. Faraday outlined grandiose plans for the future. His invention would change the face of the Earth- if he could spread the information. Mr. Faraday confided in Tom, “It is likely that the Committee of Public Safety will find me, seize my lifework, and imprison or execute me. I want you to promise me, you will find a recipient for my findings, someone who will work to brighten the future for all mankind, not just the rich.  
Looking solemnly into his eyes, Tom promised. No matter the difficultly, if Mr. Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction was suppressed, he would find a way to communicate it to another innovator or inventor. To ensure the safety of the information, Mr. Faraday pressed a heavily creased envelope into Tom’s small hands.  
That was the second to last time Tom saw Mr. Faraday alive.

Tom’s flashback shattered; today, after long years, of waiting Tom could finally fulfill his promise. No longer was he just a frightened boy, cowering under the light of a dim kerosene lamp while the heaving boots of the Committee’s men stomped and tromped on the street outside. No longer did he have to cringe with the fear that the enforcers would find out his past and make him disappear, just like they had made Mr. Faraday disappear. The cycle would end. Pounding, Tom’s heart leaped in his chest; he had an appointment today with a mysterious man, a powerful man with connections in the government and the underworld. His workshop produced wonders, inventions conceived in the depths of a fertile creative mind. Today, 30 years after the cleansing of Mr. Faraday, Tom was meeting the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Edison.  
As Tom opened the door to the massive brick building and proceeded towards Edison’s office, he heard a heater argument reverberating inside. Tom waited outside the door way, hesitant to interrupt the furious discussion. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, waiting, and as the argument, almost a ‘war’, raged on, he couldn’t help but notice that their quarrel related to Mr. Faraday’s work.

Tom heard an aggrieved inventor berating Edison, “Edison, you lying dog! Direct current is in no way more efficient. It pales in every way to my own alternating current. DC can’t even be transmitted much over a mile because of the inverse relationship of current and velocity. Only my alternating current can use transformers to raise the voltage and thus lower the amperes of current being transferred. The power equation, P=I2R, dictates that your wires are unable to carry charge far enough because the amperage is much higher when it is being transported through the wires.”

“Tesla, your alternating current is dangerous and unproven compared to my direct current. My technique successfully powers incandescent lamps in the homes of the rich and affluent, and many devices use it. Leave, and take your ridiculous ideas of alternating current with you. Soon, the board at the Niagara power plant will decide to abandon your AC, and they will power the world with direct current. When this occurs, I, Edison, will have won the War of Currents!”  
After Tesla stormed out, accusing Edison of using his contacts to stifle innovation, Tom, filled with trepidation, slid into the doorway of Edison’s office. He approached the desk and with his hands shaking, Tom divulged his secret, laying Mr. Faradays notes on the heavy oaken table. His work was done; Tom’s contract with Mr. Faraday was fulfilled.  
As he leafed through the papers, Edison murmured pleasantries and congratulated Tom on sharing the work. “Do you happen to have anything more detailed? I have already received this information from some of my handlers… I mean contacts.”

Growing nervous, Tom shook his head. He had given everything to a man who was acting evermore suspicious. It was time to leave.  
Before he could push back his chair, Edison narrowed his eyes and frowned, contorting the map of lines which crossed his face. “I’m sorry, I can’t let you leave with this data, officially, it is still listed as heresy, and the ones I work for would be very disappointed if I let a traitor escape.”

Raising his voice Edison called to the guards who oversaw his laboratory, “Men of the Committee, the rebel, the conspirator is here! Take him! Come in and arrest him.”  
“Tom, in the future, direct current electricity will power the world and create unimaginable marvels. But Tom, you don’t need to worry about it, you won’t be there to see it. This information still is banned, and you don’t have any sponsors or near enough power to thwart the government. I’m only allowed to continue because I provide the Committee and those close to my power plants with light and electricity.”

“Tom, enjoy your prison sentence, you might meet someone you know. After all, the government had to get the knowledge of electromagnetic induction from somewhere. And the Committee of Public Safety loathes disposing of those who can contribute to society. They don’t kill you unless you are useless.”


End file.
